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TechnologyDaily Mobile
New Year, Old Issues For States
by Liza Porteus
Although the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 altered many states' legislative agendas in 2001, the start of 2002 will revive many of the technology issues that topped legislators' and lobbyists' priorities last year. States face tighter budgets than in the recent past but still must find room in them to cover increased costs for homeland security. And perennial tech issues like privacy and Internet taxation remain unresolved.
"Overall, at the state level, it was a very good year," said William Archey, president of the electronics trade group AeA. "A lot of times at the state level ... it's a defensive action" to defeat bills rather than a proactive stance. AeA successfully lobbied in support of various education measures in states such as Texas and Washington, and was able to halt legislation on issues such as privacy and manufacturing taxes they say would have inhibited the tech sector.
Lobbying also helped block action on tort reform in California, an issue that tech companies say would threaten their proprietary secrets. Thirteen other states introduced similar measures.
Bob Cohen, spokesman for the Information Technology Association of America, said last year's "big ticket" items probably will resurface.
"I think you're looking at states trying to figure out how they're going to bolster the security of their information systems and make sure they have good contingency plans ... disaster recovery plans in place and have their own hardened systems to deter any kind of cyber attacks," Cohen said. "I think you're going to see a shift based on the sort of Sept. 11 pivot point to make sure cyber crime, cyber terrorism, any kind of Internet-borne attacks or any kind of penetration of systems does not take place."
Following is a look at what states accomplished in 2001 and what issues remain on their tech agendas for this year:
Privacy
All 50 states are considering some sort of privacy legislation, most of them involving financial privacy, according to the Internet Alliance. While 31 states pondered financial privacy measures more restrictive than provisions in the 1999 federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley banking law, only 15 states passed laws, and they were not more restrictive. Lawmakers in 20 states, meanwhile, introduced comprehensive Internet privacy measures, but none passed.
California came the closest to passing stronger financial privacy protections. After heavy lobbying by the financial industry and political arm-twisting, the measure failed to get enough votes on the Assembly floor but may be revived this year. Federal lawmakers, however, are looking to pass a broader privacy law to preempt states from passing a patchwork of laws.
Several states also passed measures enacting provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to streamline computerized health information. Late last year, Congress granted states a one-year extension to comply with the law. But California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas already have altered current practices to comply.
On another privacy front, Arkansas, Arizona, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New York, Texas and Utah have passed laws regarding state agencies' use of information citizens give via agency Web sites.
Internet Taxes
Last October, Congress revived the moratorium on Internet access taxes for another two years, but lawmakers avoided taking on stand on the more politically sensitive issue of taxing e-commerce sales across state borders.
That topic has been a source of much debate between industry groups and state officials, who claim they lose millions in revenue from uncollected taxes on such transactions, and it is sure to remain a hot issue in 2002. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the Streamlined Sales Tax Project have worked on varying models of tax simplification.
At an NCSL meeting in Salt Lake City late last year, Tennessee Rep. Matt Kisber was elected as co-chairman of an effort to create such a system. That meeting was the first of the 19 states who have enacted legislation to create a uniform tax system. The next meeting is Jan. 25 in New Orleans.
Economy
The burst of the dot-com bubble and other economic factors prompted many states to slash budget forecasts and seek ways to trim costs, particularly given the need for more homeland security. The National Governors' Association (NGA) released several studies at the end of last year asking the federal government to help defray homeland security costs and to urge federal lawmakers to pass an effective economic stimulus package.
NGA has asked Congress for $2 billion for bioterrorism preparations and another $1 billion in state grants for public safety, emergency response and other related costs. A December survey indicated the cost of homeland security to the states would be about $4 billion in the first year alone. Bioterrorism and emergency communications represent $3 billion of the costs, with an additional $1 billion for guarding critical infrastructure.
Also in December, NGA and the National Association of State Budget Officers released estimates showing that soaring healthcare and homeland security costs after Sept. 11 have caused state budget shortfalls to grow to $40 billion. Further increases in unemployment reportedly could push the budget gap to $50 billion.
Homeland Security
Despite budgetary constraints, homeland security policy covering emergency-response networks, bioterrorism, information sharing and critical infrastructure protection have become more important since Sept. 11.
State officials have criticized federal officials for not sharing information about terrorist threats efficiently enough, and state officials are seeking more access to databases of agencies like the FBI to determine the severity of potential threats. Groups such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors have pleaded with White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to ensure that state and local representatives are included in the decision-making process.
Groups such as NCSL are tracking state actions on homeland security, whether it be creating Cabinet-level positions or assigning task forces to study the issue.
Electronic surveillance also has come to the forefront of the homeland security debate, both at the federal and state levels. Since President Bush signed an anti-terrorism law last October, states have been debating similar bills to authorize the use of wiretaps on suspected terrorists' e-mail accounts and cell phones. New York passed the first such law, and Illinois soon followed. Fourteen state laws specifically apply to cellular and cordless calls, according to NCSL.
E-Government/Election Reform
Allowing citizens to apply for hunting or drivers' licenses and seek other state services online is a huge movement. New portals also are the new craze in state e-government. In Utah, for example, Utah.gov replaced e-Utah.org as the state's main portal in November. Oregon also is establishing a new portal later this month.
Election reform was another paramount issue for states in 2001 thanks to the 2000 presidential election debacle that put Florida and hanging chads in the spotlight. Replacing outdated voting equipment is key in the effort.
In 2001, many states enacted election-reform legislation to outlaw the further use of punch-card ballots. States such as Kansas and Missouri recently issued recommendations for reform, while the National Association of Secretaries of States and other groups have called on Congress to appropriate funds to help states and localities upgrade equipment.
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